Another Great Day

So last night we went to the baby home at 6 and were there for about an hour. It went really well and we just played and I held her for a lot of the time.

This morning we woke up (after someone in the room decided to get up at 2:00 and read and eat beef jerky - don't ask) and walked to the church that is about 2 blocks away and went in for a minute. They were in the middle of a service so we didn't stay long. Then we just walked around the block. It snowed all day today and the streets are definitely harder to drive through. I'm so glad I'm not driving - there is no way I'd be able to do it. I haven't been really seen the horrible driving that everyone talks about - Vladimir is actually a very good driver. Maybe it's because I knew what to expect since I've been to Russia before.

Nayda and Vladimir picked us up a little earlier today and we went to the open air market to look at hats. Don't worry - I have some great pictures to come :) Then we went to the Aeronautics museum which was interesting. Then we headed to the most important place in Kaluga - the baby home!

Our first visit today didn't go as well as yesterday. We were in the music room again but I think she is teething and she's breathing pretty heavy so I think she might be getting a cold. She didn't want much to do with any of the toys so I held her most of the time. It was still a good visit but my arms were getting sore by the end of our visit!

Then we headed to the Pub restaurant and then walked back to the hotel to take a little nap. We went back to the baby home tonight at 6 and she was in a much better mood. She was laughing and playing and I heard her really cry for the first time. She was sitting up and playing and started falling backwards and my mom caught her but it startled her and she just started crying. Only one tear though! Then there were some great fake crys that we couldn't help but laugh at - it was pretty funny.

Then we headed back to the hotel. My dad has been trying to figure out the satelite on the tv to find an english station. What was the one thing I forgot? DVD's of course! So we came across a music video station that had an American rap song on it so we watched it for a minute and then my dad asked, "Is this in english?" My mom and I were rolling - it was hilarious! You have to know my dad and his huge hatred of rap music. We finally found CNN so we're good now and it only took us 2 days :)

Tomorrow we head to the notary to sign all the paperwork and get passport pictures taken of a certain someone :) So tomorrow I'll let everyone know her name and I'll post a glimpse of what she looks like.

Here are a few pictures to tide you over.

This is the hat market: My dad and his purchase at the museum:

My dad and I in front of the baby home

Me posing with the shawl the Nayda made me take to wear under my coat because she said my wool coat wasn't warm enough :)

Today Was A Great Day

We had a late start today. Good thing because we slept in until 9 this morning after going to bed at 7:30ish last night. It's about 5:00 pm here and I'm still good - not tired at all so hopefully I'll miss out on all the jet lag fun. I'm sure I'll pay for it on the way back. We got ready and took a quick walk around the block before we had to go. The sidewalks are extremely icy and it was pretty cold today - about 0 degrees I think.
We met Nayda (my translator) a little after noon and went to the MOE. It was pretty uneventful. Basically it was a formality that they were allowing me to go the orphanage and visit.

Then we headed for the baby home. It was very clean and hot - I was sweating the entire time but that could've been due to nerves too. We waited for our coordinator and then went into the head doctors office to go over her medical file and ask any questions that I had. Then we got to go downstairs to see her in her groupa. She was hanging out in the large crib and the caretaker picked her up and brought her over to me. I didn't get to hold her yet - they wanted to get her dressed and kept apologizing that she wasn't wearing socks. It was about 95 degrees in there and I would've been running around in bare feet too if I could! There were about 6-8 babies in there but we were only there for a minute because the nurses didn't want us in there without masks. So we headed up to the music room and they brought her in a few minutes later.
She is super cute and still has a mohawk although her hair is lighter than it looked in the pictures. They put her in a walker and she just started running around. The doctor and a caretaker were in there for a minute but then they left so we were alone which was nice. Then I finally got to hold her and there were no tears! My dad even held her with no tears - she was pretty interested in him and his deep voice that she doesn't hear very often. We played with some of the toys I brought but of course my purse and the camera were way more interesting. She looks very healthy and seems to be on target or ahead on almost all of her development milestones. We got her to laugh and smile and she has a great toothy grin. It was really nice to have both of my parents there - one was in charge of the camera and the other had the video camera. I didn't have to worry about any of it!

We were there for about 2 hours and then we had to leave. We went to eat and then headed back to the hotel and now we're just hanging out until we go back to the baby home at 6:00. We get to visit her twice a day tomorrow and Wednesday and then we head back to Moscow.
So things are going awesome - I will post more tomorrow!

We are here

We are in Kaluga and I'm exhausted. All the plane transfers and flights went great. No delays or anything - just a lot of flying and being in a cramped space. It's 7:45 here and I'm off to bed. I can't keep my eyes open any longer. Tomorrow we go to the MOE around 1 and then we're off to the orphanage!

Not Enough Time In The Day...

This week has been absolutely crazy! For some reason all of my clients at work seem to magically know when I'm going to be out of the office and they all need me to get things done right away. I was sooooo busy at work this week not to mention all the other things that needed to be done so I could leave tomorrow morning!! But I got most of my customers taken care of and the rest will just have to wait until I get back. I keep telling people that kitchens are not life and death, but that never seems to go over very well...
The visas came this morning at 10:00 am. Once those came I could breathe a little easier. Both of my parents are going with me which will be really nice - one can have the camera and the other can man the video camera :)

I'm pretty much ready - and I guess I should be since I have to leave for the airport at 6 am and it's midnight! Oh well, I can sleep on the plane I guess. I just had to make a last minute run to get batteries so now I think I'm set.
My house is clean and there's just a few more things to get in the suitcase and I'm off to bed. Next time I post I will be in Russia!!
Paka!!

I'm Going to Russia!!

So this has been a whirlwind weekend! I got the call on Thursday and I have to be in Russia this coming Sunday!! I was going out of town this last weekend so I tried to get all the major stuff done on Thursday and Friday before I left and now I'm back and trying to get everything else taken care of.

And what's even crazier - It's A Girl!!
She is very cute - 9 months old with dark hair and kinda chunky. I was not expecting a girl at all since I didn't specify gender and it's thrown me for a loop a little bit. For those of you not in the adoption world, when you don't specify gender you are more than likely going to be referred a boy because there tends to be more boys in the orphanages than girls.

I had room colors and decorations all picked out - luckily I hadn't bought anything or painted anything yet- and now I have to rethink all of it. Even the quilt I was working on has more "boyish" colors but I can make it work. I'm definitely going to use it since I spent all the time on it! I had bought a few clothes at garage sales, luckily not much, but at least I know a little boy in the family who can use them :) It just might take him a while to grow into them.

I got my flights booked on Friday, visas sent out, hotel is already taken care of. Now I just need to move on to details like getting crisp money and packing. Oh, and to make my life so much easier I hit something on the interstate late last night (I think it was a dog) and totally wrecked my car. At least it is driveable but my whole front bumper and my right headlight is gone.

I will be posting from Russia (hopefully) on what's going on everyday. I know I love reading people's blogs when they are in Russia. It's just so exciting and it really helps to know what to expect when it's your turn. So thanks to all of you who have already been there done that - it really does help and hopefully I'll be able to help someone out too!

Update

So I've been a really bad blogger. I've been reading a lot of blogs though and I'm very excited for those of you that have traveled recently or just got their travel dates - congratulations! But.... I've had nothing to report for myself so I've been having a little pity party and just waiting, and trying very hard to be patient.
My agency says I should hear something in February about a referral and I was getting a little discouraged about it this weekend until I realized that February is only a week away! So I might (hopefully and with fingers crossed) have more exciting news to share in the near future!

I've been keeping busy though with snowblowing my driveway (seriously - I'm ready to be done), trying to stay warm in the sub-zero temps, and trying not to buy things for a child that I don't have a clue on the gender or age. I did give in a little bit though and started making a quilt that is pretty gender neutral. I used some Amy Butler fabric that I absolutely love! Right now I am hand quilting it - not because I wanted to though. The minky fabric on the back kept getting sucked into my sewing maching so I finally gave up and decided to hand stitch it. I'm almost done with that and then I just have to put the binding on it. I'll post pictures of it soon.

Snow Day!

15 inches of snow = Snow Day!!
I had a feeling yesterday that I might not be going to work today. The malls in the area even closed. You know it's bad if the malls are closed 2 weeks before Christmas!
I haven't seen this much snow in a long time. My poor dogs - they are both around 25 pounds and not very far off the ground so I was outside today trying to clear a path for them to the backyard and make a potty area. They were so confused and didn't know where to go!
Now I get to go out and see if I can scoop out the huge 3 foot drift so I can get to my snowblower. Oh the joys of living in the midwest!